20 best apps for travelers

Not many people these days go on a journey without their phone. Some people would scold you for traveling with a smartphone or a tablet, saying you’re a slave to technology etc. But the truth is, technology makes life much easier. I understand that once in a while one can go out in the wild and lock themselves away from the telephone, electricity or a toilet. But making a fuss over someone bringing a phone along on a regular trip is like making a fuss over someone driving a car somewhere instead of riding on horseback or walking around in shoes instead of barefoot.

Below is a list of apps that often come in handy and make life easier when traveling:

XE Currency

An app for quick currency conversion. It always keeps the exchange rates up to date, one can add any number of them, or even check on a chart how the price of a particular currency is changing.

AIR DOCTOR

An app for a quick and easy search of a doctor and making an appointment anywhere in the world, wherever we happen to be. The app might be very helpful during crisis situations on the road. Look at https://air-dr.com/

OsmAnd – Maps and Navigation

One of the best offline apps with maps and navigation. Before leaving, we download a map of a particular country and then we can use it without Internet access.

FREE (the free version allows to download up to 10 maps)

Google Translator

The best translator available, with a voice synthesizer reading feature in certain languages. Everything we have translated so far is stored in the memory and we can later browse it without connecting to the Internet.

Google Maps

Maps with navigation, satellite view and info on traffic. For some time now, it has also been possible to save selected areas of a map offline.

TripAdvisor

An app with a search engine and reviews for tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and events. A very useful app with a huge database!

FREE

Triposo

A very comprehensive app with a database of tourist attractions, restaurants etc. A very nice module with suggestions, notifications popping up on attractions nearby and an awesome feature of creating your own city walks from the selected points in the neighborhood. Plus the maps work offline!

Moovit

Super useful for finding buses and trams in cities from point A to B, info on layovers, countdowns to a departure, info on which stop to leave at etc. Very useful when in a new town.

Booking.com

An app for searching and booking the cheapest and the best hotels all around the world. Prices are very often much lower than on the hotel’s official website.

FREE

Airbnb

An app for renting apartments and rooms from locals at very favorable prices.

Couchsurfing

A mobile version of the popular Couchsurfing website – a search engine for free night stays on locals’ couches.

Skype

A popular app for free calls and video calls with friends all around the world. All we need is wifi access at a restaurant and we can call the family for free

Skyscanner

A mobile search engine for cheap flights. One nice feature is a chart of ticket prices for the following months and searching for the cheapest flight along a particular route on any day, with any airline and from any airport in Poland.

Ustream

A nice app for turning your phone into an online cam and uploading data to a place like your blog.

Sunrise -GPS Sunrise Sunset Calculator

A nice app that calculates sunrises and sunsets for the place we’re currently in.

Periscope

An app for creating a live video stream (straight from our phone’s camera). We used to use Ustream for that, but finally somebody made something dedicated?

Our Periscope @BusemPrzezSwiat

Wikicamps

Great apps with free night stays in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Great Britain.

GoPro App

A great app for controlling a GoPro camera with a preview of the pictures and videos taken.